The Boat Doctor - Good Medicine

Today was an interesting day on Harmony!  Usually I am a solitary figure doing whatever tasks are on the every growing list of boat projects.  Today I had company on-board.  The Boat Doctor made a house call and we started the rewiring project.  What a way to get charged up!

So instead of having a 3 way conversation with me, myself, and I, I actually was able to talk to another person.  Our primary focus today was on giving Greg, the Boat Doctor, a general lay of the land since he'd last been on Harmony during the summer.  We went over where to put batteries, bilge pumps, and switches.  However, our biggest focus was on gathering data for wiring the lights, both inside the cabin and external navigation lights.

We have decided to go with an all LED set-up in order to require less energy and save a chunk (a nautical term referring to something larger than a bit) on wiring costs.  We often don't consider the cost of the wiring when we look to either add a component or rewire something.  However, the gauge of wire required for a long run can get fairly expensive.

For instance, Harmony's mast is about 55 feet high and roughly 25 feet or so from the circuit panel.  In very simple terms that means a run (round trip) of about 160 feet of wire.  With an incandescent bulb I might need to a 10 gauge wire costing $1.63 per foot for a total cost of $260.80.  However, with an LED bulb I would need 160 feet of 16 gauge wire at $0.69 per foot or a total of $110.40.  The net saving for that one wire run is $150.40!

Ok, now that is the savings for one 160 foot wire run for ONE bulb.  On a typical mast, one would have an anchor tricolor, a steaming light, and a deck light.  On Harmony we will have all of these, but they will be LEDs and they should require 3 wire runs.  Remembering the savings from above, our using LEDs will net us a $450 for just the masthead wiring!

So, this type of savings is also possible relative to the other lighting runs.  We will need running lights at both the bow and stern.  The bow lights will require an approximate wire run of 60 feet for each light and the stern light will require a 40 foot run.  Using the $0.94 per foot saving from the masthead example, our savings for the deck level running lights is another $150.40!

Within the cabin, we will use LEDs, as well.  As I described in an earlier posting, we will have 3 categories of lights:  Overhead, ambient, and courtesy.  These lights will require wire runs, as well.  Since the minimum gauge of wire we can use for ABYC standards is 16/2, we can use the same savings per foot as above. 

Harmony is a big boat with a bow to stern length of about 43 feet.  A stem to stern round trip is about 90 feet including the length needed to connect to the circuit panel. We will probably need to run port and starboard circuits for at least the overhead and ambient lights, and the courtesy can be on one circuit.  

For the sake of discussion, we can assume that each category of lighting will require a 90 foot of wiring per circuit:  2 overhead circuits, 2 ambient circuits, and 1 courtesy circuit.  Doing the math, that is 5 wire runs of about 90 feet each for a total length of wire of 450 feet.  At $0.94 savings per foot, the net savings on the cabin light wiring is about $423.

Now, Greg, the Boat Doctor, will use his ABYC Master Technician's expertise to design an appropriate schematic for the wiring and that will determine just how much wire we really need.  But, if I add up the estimated savings I calculated above, we are looking to reap $1,023 in potential savings with just the wiring.

Of course, the LED lights cost more than the regular incandescent bulbs.  A rough calculation shows that the wiring savings basically covers the premium price for the LED lights.  Now, what I haven't added into this cost/benefit discussion is the long term savings from bulb cost and fuel to charge the batteries to cover the extra amperage draw from the incandescent bulbs.  Nickels and dimes, perhaps, but over the years they do add up to real dollars.

All in all, we are creating an minimal energy footprint which day in and day out save us money, make life on-board easier, and allow us to leave behind a more environmentally responsible wake.

Fair Winds and Following Seas!

The Newport Boat Show - Decisions Made

Boat shows are usually a mixed bag for us.  Yes, we really enjoy being among boats of all kinds, but we are not big fans of aimless wandering.  Our most anticipated boat shows are those at which we need to do either major research for a project or serious buying for a boat project.  However, as much as we gear up for getting something done, our boat shoe experiences fail to live up to the excitement we often feel to get into the detail.

Most of this disappointment involves vendors who tend to just show up at the show.  With rare exception, they have a pretty face in their booth, but have either no desire or ability to really field serious questions or transact serious business.  This is a shame, because some of us come to boat shows to do more than drool over the nautical eye candy.

For us the 2012 Newport Boat Show was targeted as a serious purchase venture.  We were in position to buy major systems and wanted to take full advantage of boat show discounts.  Our helpful counsel, Greg Flederman, The Boat Doctor, offered to help up select and negotiate system prices.

Obviously, Greg was going to really help out with our selection of navigational systems including radar, chart plotter, auto pilot, etc.  We were going to avail ourselves of his expertise regarding lighting, refrigeration, and anything else he offered.  He had other clients at the show, and we agreed to meet up at the Raymarine booth.

With Greg's counsel, we had chosen Raymarine as our suite of electronics.  While Garmin was a serious contender, the interfacing capabilities of Raymarine, as well as their quality in the autopilot category swung the deal.  However, the Raymarine booth was NOT selling at the show.  WHAT!?  Well, we were at least able to select each component with the help of their show folks.  We would purchase it all later.

We then went to Frigoboat to discuss refrigeration.  We have both a reefer and a freezer to install.  Frigoboat sent us to Kathy Groh at Great Water Marine Systems to chat about systems.  We found Kathy to be incredibly sincere and helpful.  With her help, we were able to select the components for Harmony.  She also helped us out with selecting water heaters.  She wasn't able to make any sales at the show, but she noted our needs and we scheduled a follow-up chat/meeting to finalize what we would actually purchase.  A huge advantage for us is that Kathy's facility is just 30 minutes from Harmony.

We evaluated a new rigid inflatable dinghy for Harmony, as our current inflatable is beginning to suffer from inflatile dysfunction, and may not be up to the task of shepherding us back and forth to the boat.  If we get the air leaks fixed, our current dinghy may prove to be a better dinghy dock resident:  we use our dinghy dock dinghy as an emergency access boat in case the Barden's Boat Yard launch is not available.

We were able to evaluate various LED lights for Harmony's interior.  The tough task with these lights is that is hard to really understand how much light they emit and how their light looks when on.  While we didn't buy any lights, we were able to make a clear selection of what to put where.

We were able to meet up with Mack Boring and purchase the new engine:  a Yanmar 4JH4-HTE.  This decision was covered in a prior posting, but at the show we inked the deal to buy it.  Well, one purchase made!

Our last experience at the 2012 Newport Boat Show came after Greg scurried to find us.  He had seen a very interesting water making system (i.e. reverse osmosis) that was not only very affordable, but really easy to install and operate.  We spend over a half an hour at the DIY Watermakers booth listening to Raymond and Amanda Fosdick explain their concept.

Beth and I had not considered adding a water maker to Harmony.  This was primarily due to the cost of the systems offered by the major players on the market.  However, the simplicity of the DIY Watermakers' system, the relatively low cost to install, and ease of operation made us put this consideration in the high interest column.

So, after a long day of buying, selecting, and considering, we felt we had a decent boat show experience.  While we didn't want away carrying big boxes, we did achieve a lot of what we wanted to do.  Heck, I couldn't see how we were going to carry the new engine back to the car anyway!  Yes, we had a good day at a boat show, finally!

Fair Winds and Following Seas!

Energy Concerns - Charging Ahead

One of the more important concerns for the crew of Harmony relates to energy usage on board and the issue of battery charging.  After our experience on our previous boat, Poetry, which was a 1965 Pearson Vanguard, we wanted to use our blank canvas situation on Harmony to our fullest advantage.

On Poetry, we had installed a refrigeration unit.  Unfortunately, we were only able to insulate the original "cooler" box just so much.  The result was that we had to run the engine 5+ hours every day we used the reefer just to keep the batteries charged.  Yes, we had installed a huge battery bank on Poetry to be able to support eventual radar and chart plotting, but the refrigeration was a true hog.

Well, on Harmony we would have 2 separate refrigeration systems:  a reefer AND a freezer.  In addition to that, Harmony would have pressure water, and a full suite of radar, chart plotting, radios, and auto pilot.  We did NOT want to run the engine 30 hours a day to support our existence on the boat.  For one it is too much background noise, it uses gallons of diesel fuel, produces lots of exhaust, and the idling of the diesel doesn't do the engine much good.

What to do?  While it is easy to ponder solar and wind power, these systems are not panaceas.  We could install a diesel generator, but its just another diesel engine which requires space, plumbing, and fuel.  So with the counsel of Greg Fledeman, the Boat Doctor, we were able to construct a general plan.

While the energy consumption rates of the basic electrical components are pretty much a given, we could find ways to conserve.  First, our refrigeration systems would consist of Frigoboat keel coolers and well insulated boxes.  Second, we would install a complete suite of LED lights for both internal and external needs.  Third, we would install both solar and wind charging systems.

Even in our targeted Northeast Atlantic cruising grounds, these two systems should be able to provide enough energy during a normal sunny/windy day to power the entire boat including auto pilot.  We do expect to run the engine at least 30 minutes a day when entering and leaving a harbor.  So, the engine will mostly be used for propulsion.  Great!

The solar panels will be mounted at the stern on davits, which will also be used to get the dinghy out of the water and off the deck for coastal cruising.  Additional solar panels will be mounted on the bimini top.  The challenge with all solar panels is that their efficiency diminishes so much when the shade from sails or spars occludes the panel surfaces.

The wind generator, brand to be chosen later, will be mounted on the mizzen mast above the radar dome.  The concern here relates to the risk to life and limb should one of the generator blades break and rain down upon those in the cockpit.  At the advice of the davit fabricator, Kato Marine, we decided to not mount the unit on the davits:  too much vibration.  However, the radar dome should deflect the brunt of the debris should such a catastrophic failure occur.

OK, we now know how we're going to charge the batteries without burdening the diesel engine.  We can be comforted that we're being more environmentally responsible and limiting our reliance on the proverbial "grid".  Ahh, doomsday preppers we're not, at least not yet!!!

More on these elements when we get to the installation process.

Fair Winds and Following Seas!